DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION - SPARC
DIVERSITY,
EQUITY, AND
INCLUSION
LEARNINGS & NEXT STEPS
AN OPENCON REPORT ON
CONFERENCE PLANNING
VERSION 1 - RELEASED JULY 10, 2017
Subject to a Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 International License
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A Project of SPARC
OPENCON
How can organizers design a conference that takes
OpenCon is a platform for creating, empowering, and
these and other factors into account? How can we all
connecting the next generation of leaders to advance
be more thoughtful about barriers that could prevent
Open Access, Open Education and Open Data¡ªacross
people from participating? How do we design an event
disciplines, and in every corner of the globe. OpenCon¡¯s
that minimizes those barriers¡ªone that people from
initiatives include an annual flagship global conference,
a diversity of contexts and experiences can participate
satellite events organized by volunteer hosts around
in? This requires attention at every stage of planning a
the world, and an ongoing online community. Each
conference¡ªwhich we try to cover in this report.
year, OpenCon¡¯s global conference convenes promising
students and early career academic professionals from
The report goes over decisions around what kind of ven-
around the world interested in opening research and ed-
ue you are choosing, how to minimize financial barriers,
ucation. OpenCon is a project of SPARC (the Scholarly
how to ensure that voices which are often neglected in
Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) and its
mainstream conversations are heard and centered, and
student program, the Right to Research Coalition.
more, based both on lessons learned from planning
OpenCon over the years, as well as external resources on
accessible event planning.
WHY BUILD DIVERISTY,
EQUITY & INCLUSION INTO
DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND
CONFERENCES?
INCLUSION 101
People come from different contexts and circumstances.
DIVERSITY
This means that on a structural level, some individuals
Diversity refers to having a range of people across
will consistently have fewer barriers preventing them
gender identities, racial backgrounds, geographic
from participating and speaking at events like confer-
locations, socioeconomic backgrounds, ages, ability,
ences¡ªand some individuals will have significantly
sexual orientation, and other characteristics represent-
more. These systemic barriers are often a function of
ed and participating in a space, event, or community.
geographical and racial background, class, gender, and
Although diversity has a lot to do with who¡¯s in the
ability. The barriers themselves could be financial, physi-
(sometimes metaphorical) room¡ªit¡¯s more than that. A
cal, geographical, or social.
diverse community also considers whether people from
a wide range of backgrounds can meaningfully engage
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at all levels of the community. This means diversity also has
In the Equality vs. Equity image, the fence represents a
to do with whose perspectives are being heard, who gets to
systemic barrier. An equality-based solution would treat
make decisions, and more.
everyone the same, despite the fact that the people in the
image are clearly different and need different degrees of
EQUITY
support to overcome the barrier. An equity-based solution
Equity is another word for fairness. Equity is an approach
recognizes these differences and provides an appropriate
that recognizes that the magnitude of systemic barriers posed
degree of support to each person based off what they need.
to a particular person will vary based on their gender identity, race, geographic location, class, age, ability, sexual orien-
INCLUSION
tation and other factors. Equity recognizes that different people
Inclusion takes diversity one step further. When we
will need different amounts of resources or support in order to
talk about diversity, we are talking about having a wide
succeed and overcome these barriers. It is important to note
range of voices and perspectives present and participat-
that equity is different than equality, because equality-based
ing. When we talk about inclusivity, we are talking about
approaches assume that everyone should be treated the same.
communities, spaces, events, or solutions that are designed
Unlike equity, equality ignores the fact that different people
to be for people from a wide range of backgrounds. This
begin with different resources and barriers, and therefore will
means a space can be diverse, but not inclusive; you can
need more or less support as a result.
have people from different backgrounds at an event, but
do they feel welcome? Are you forcing them to adapt to
a space that isn¡¯t built for them? Designing an inclusive
event translates to everything from physical space (are
people using wheelchairs able to enter the venue you¡¯ve
chosen?) to workshop content (do your workshop materials assume that all participants will be coming from a
similar social, cultural, or racial context?)
Equality vs. Equity - Interaction Institute for Social Change &
Angus Maguir: / .
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DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND
THE REPORT
INCLUSION AT OPENCON
Alhough OpenCon participants come from diverse geographical locations, over the years we have learned that
Central to advancing Open Access, Open Education,
inclusion means more than simply having diverse repre-
and Open Data is the belief that information should be
sentation in the room. Both as a conference and global
shared in an equitable and accessible way. It is import-
community, we continue to work on making OpenCon
ant to us that OpenCon reflects these values both in our
a more inclusive space. We are constantly learning. This
communities and in the design of our conference. We
report was created to:
recognize that although the Open movements are global
?
in nature, privileged voices¡ªthose from higher income
Keep OpenCon transparent and accountable to our
commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion
countries, wealthy institutions, and those who experience
?
systemic advantages based on factors such as (but not
Share our learnings as conference organizers and
encourage others to organize events that center on
limited to) race, gender identity, class, and ability¡ªare
diversity, equity, and inclusion
typically prioritized in conferences. Openness in research
?
and education often embraces rhetoric around breaking
Encourage iteration and feedback from the broader
community
down barriers to access¡ªbut how can we practice this in
our work and gatherings? How can we minimize barriers
Although we encourage this report to be used as a re-
to access not only to academic materials, but also to par-
source for other organizers, we understand that many of
ticipation in our own communities and conversations?
the practices and accessibility requirements we mention:
(1) are not exhaustive, (2) may not be possible depend-
To create an environment that minimizes replicating
ing on the infrastructure or financial resources available
power structures that exist in society, OpenCon does its
to organizers, and (3) may not be appropriate in all geo-
best to design a meeting that:
graphical and cultural contexts (the authors of the report
(1) is accessible and inclusive,
are Northern American and European). In this way, the
(2) meaningfully engages diverse perspectives,
report is not meant to be a set of firm rules. Rather, we
(3) centers conversations around equity.
hope it will help organizers to be more thoughtful about
integrating these values at every step of the conference
planning process within their resources and means.
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WHAT¡¯S IN THIS REPORT?
Lessons Learned on Planning an Inclusive Conference
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We outline practices we have incorporated into our conference planning
so far, as well as areas that we will improve in the future.
Conference Checklist
28
Drawing both from our own practices and public resources on inclusive
and accessible event planning, we have created a standard checklist of
actions conference organizers can take when planning events, workshops
, and conferences.
OpenCon Self Assessment: 2014¨C2016 33
We share figures illustrating OpenCon¡¯s global conference demographics
from 2014 to 2016, indicating areas of improvement over our three-year
history and areas that still need work.
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